| I did this write up last year, but when Wags changed over his site, some of the pic's got lost for some reason. PLEASE re AutoFAQ it and I will have admin delete the old one. I get many requests for these pictures, so I figured I would do the right thing and redo it for anyone that wants it. Thanks! Sorry for the crappy pics, but I must have had something set wrong. You can see what you need to see though to just give you an idea of what you are doing. On with it....... Follow the shifter bushing replacement guide to get the shifter out: [ [ http://www.ttzd.com/tech/bushingstech.html ] ] Be nuts not to replace them while you had it out even if they look fine. They cost nothing and you will have them out anyway. You can even upgrade to the bronze bushings. Here is what it will look like when you get it out and on the bench 
It will be very clear how to take it apart as it pretty much just comes apart once it is out. The metal upper cover just pulls up and the lower rubber boot just slips down with little effort. You will then see the ball with the plastic "web" attached. The web pops over the ball and is held on with a little retaining ring at the bottom. Pop the ring off and then you can pull the web off the ball with a little push up/spread motion. 
Once this is done you will be to the metal ball. Mark where the ball is so you will have a reference later. Turn the shifter over and put the end your shift knob goes on onto a solid bench and then using a hammer and big punch (or something to get at the edge of the ball) drive the ball downwards towards the "tranny end" of the shifter. It will take a few whacks and you will learn this is a pretty sturdy shifter. You are trying to move it up just enough to see the "rails" in the shifter that keeps the ball in place. There are 2 on opposing sides. Kinda looks like what a cheap screwdriver looks like when the handle slides off. You can see one here just poking out of the ball - look close. 
You can see them both here - again, look close and sorry for the crappy pics. 
Once you see them both (boy I wish I had KNOWN there were two....) mark the other side (tranny side) of the ball where these rails would come out if you slid the ball back the other way to where it was. The rails hitting the other side of the ball is what keeps the ball from moving up. You will now need to drill 2 holes in the other end of the ball (shift knob side) to remove the stop and let the ball move farther up the shaft. You are trying to put a hole in the top of the ball big enough to let the rail slide thru it without stopping the ball. We had a 90 degree air drill, but anything will do. Punching a starting hole proves very helpful. The ball is very tough, but it will drill. We tried very hard to keep the hole as small as possible, but once we were done it really did not make that much difference. Just try not to gouge up the ball any more than you have to. 
We took the rubber at the bottom and forced it up over the ball and then taped all the loose pieces together and up out of the way to keep the drill from getting into any of them. 
Make sure you have enough room for the ball to clear the rails and then flip the shifter over and using the same method as you used to move the ball the first time, do it again the other direction (towards the shift knob). You only want to move it .75" - 1". I thought "the more the better", but settled on 1" and am glad I did, it is plenty for me. I think if you go too short it will reduce your leverage and make throws tougher. 1" makes a huge difference. Use your judgment here. Once you have the ball where you want it you could tack weld it or JB weld it, but we could not move it by standing on it, so we just left it like it was. It will really not have that much pressure on it and you will see what I mean when you have to beat the hell out of it to get it to move. Take a file or grinder and smooth up the ball any where you may have dinged it. Keep putting the web back on and wiggle it around until you can not feel any scratches or rough spots. It is pretty easy to get it smooth enough that it feels fine again. Clean the crap out of it to get all the metal shavings out, grease the bejesus out of it and put it all back together. 30 minute job if you have never done one before. Here are some pics of what it looks like in the car....leave the red interior out of it!!!
It really is pretty simple once you get in there. I got worried a few times, but the thing is pretty tough to hurt. We really had to go at one of the holes to get it to clear the rail because we missed the shot by a bit, but the ends are not felt by the motion of the shifter, so it did not matter one bit. Just hang in there and keep after it.
I changed my shifter, tranny fluid to MTL, installed new bushings, and installed a new clutch. Man, I thought I was in a different car when I was done! Good luck!!!
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How to make your own short throw shifter - Please reAutoFAQ! - 
